Sun staff take home top honors

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
02/11/2013 10:31:20 AM EST

Photojournalist David Brow won first place in the Personality Photo contest of the 2012 NENPA awards for this March 2012 photo of clock restorer James B. McKenna. McKenna worked on the 1800s Chelmsford town clock housed in the steeple of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church. SUN/DAVID H. BROW

BOSTON -- The Sun and its editorial staff won 10 awards, including four first-place honors and recognition for its digital-news strategy, at the New England Newspaper and Press Association awards banquet Saturday night.

The contest highlights the best in newspaper writing, photography and page design, as well as website audio/video projects. The Sun competes in the Daily Class 2 category for newspapers with circulation of 30,000 and above.

The winners are:

* Photojournalist David Brow, first place, Personality Photo, for his March 2012 photo of antique clock restorer James McKenna.

Brow also won third place in the same category for his January 2012 photo of Arthur Poitras, the city's lone remaining cobbler.

The contest judge wrote: "The face of the man and the face of his passion. Well done."

Brow began his Sun career in 1969. In May 2011, he was named a Master Photographer by the New England Society of Newspaper Editors for his body of work.

* Multimedia reporter Robert Mills, first place, Spot News Photo, for his June 5 image of a Lowell man holding police at bay during a standoff.

The contest judge wrote: "Excellent spot news at peak moment. Well done -- keeping your head at the moment."

* Business Editor Dan O'Brien, first place, Business/Economic Reporting, for stories on Lowell textiles and the 50th anniversary of a business.

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The contest judge wrote: "The Sun's Dan O'Brien does a nice job humanizing businesses in his articles about the textile industry, for which Lowell is famous, and a downtown fixture, a family-owned paint and hardware business retailer which marked a 50th anniversary in the city.

* Court reporter Lisa Redmond, first place, Crime/Courts Reporting, for her July 15, 2012 story about ongoing efforts by Lowell police to curb prostitution.

The contest judge wrote: "Nice blend of statistics and quotes to highlight an ongoing problem.

During the contest year, The Sun increased total page views by 35 percent, to 3.7 million per month; increased unique visitors by 22 percent; increased traffic via the lowellsun.com app 10-fold; grew Facebook followers by 78 percent; and doubled its Twitter followers.

The contest judge wrote: "Very aggressive strategy to provide news in many ways across multiple platforms, and require staff to post news in all these ways appears to be paying off with significant audience growth."

Judges gave only two prizes in this category. First place went to the Boston Globe.

The contest judge wrote: "The index with list of performers is a fantastic idea, and the bios of performers caught my interest. I also enjoyed reading about the community groups and their offering of ethnic foods."

* Multimedia reporter Lyle Moran, third place, Investigative Reporting, for his series of stories about improprieties during repairs at Lowell Housing Authority properties.

* Managing Editor/Days Tom Zuppa, third place, Editorial Writing, for three editorials: The coverup of the theft of money inside Greater Lowell Technical High School, an atheist group's lawsuit against a school district over the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and apathy toward participation in Billerica town government.

The contest judge wrote: "Hard-hitting editorials, well-written on topics important to readers."

The NENPA Better Newspaper Contest draws thousands of entries from 225 daily and weekly newspapers throughout New England. The contest year covered September 2011 to August.

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